Gren woke up feeling really warm. He wasn"t sure what the blanket was made out of but it was extremely soft. There should have been more light but for some reason it was still dark. He couldn"t even get up since someone had him wrapped up in the blanket. "Quick, let go of me. I need to pee." Gren was still half asleep and didn"t realize his situation so he started pushing whoever was holding on to him."Tasty meat. Don"t struggle." Gren recognized that voice but it was too late...
"Gaaaah! Let go! Stop biting my head! I"m not food!" Luna had the top of Gren"s head in her mouth as she chomped down on him.
"Bleh. Nasty meat." Luna spat out the bit of Gren"s hair that was left in her mouth and let go of him. It seemed like Gren didn"t taste good and he wasn"t sure how to take that; it should be a good thing, right? Luna was usually bad in the mornings so Gren shoved a piece of meat into her mouth to keep her distracted and healed the top of his head.
Gren was now awake and could remember last night"s events. He made an exit to the igloo and turned the corner around the alley to relieve himself. After Luna woke up they"d need to hurry home. Even if they ran into enemies he now had enough magic energy to fight them. Still, he didn"t want a fight so he changed clothes to something a bit more inconspicuous.
"Come on, Luna. Get up and let"s go. Everybody"s probably worried sick about us." Gren didn"t trust Luna not to bite him again so he was using a stick to poke her.
It took a few pokes but she woke up. She didn"t seem too happy with the method he used but now wasn"t the time for arguments. Gren pa.s.sed her a change of clothes before turning around to give her privacy. "Why do these clothes have tears in them?"
"They"re disguises to help us blend in better." Gren didn"t know what kind of missions he"d be going on so he had prepared several outfits in various sizes just in case they would be useful. There were even some accessories that would help him look like he was a different species and right now Gren was putting on fur gloves and a matching hood with ears that made him look like a beastman. "Like this we look like we"re related."
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Gren was satisfied with the disguises since n.o.body bothered them on their way back home. He had no way of proving that they worked but he at least knew that they didn"t fail. The gate was locked but Gren always carried a key in his pocket dimension.
Gren opened up the guild"s side door and fell to his knees. "Land. Beautiful land. How I missed your steady embrace."
"Did you get knocked on the head when I wasn"t looking?" Luna was worried about how Gren was behaving.
Gren was acting out a scene from a play he got a part in but he didn"t know how to explain it to Luna without mentioning that. "I"m just, um, glad to be back, I guess."
Gren"s presence was quickly discovered by one of the demihumans in the guild. "Papa"s back!" A little girl with red skin ran up to him and gave him a flying hug. Her hugs still hurt but it was a lot better than when she used to headb.u.t.t him, jabbing him with her nubby horn.
Gren placed the girl down and rubbed her hair. "Good morning, Ruby. Have you been a good girl while I was gone?" Ruby was nodding her head excitedly. "In that case, I think you"ve earned a treat. Don"t tell Jessica that I gave it to you, okay?" Gren handed her one of the hard candies he got while out on the mission and she popped it into her mouth before pretending to zip it--a motion that Gren taught her.
"I saw that." Ruby panicked and hid behind Gren when she heard Jessica"s voice from behind her. "Don"t worry, Ruby. You"re not the one that"s in trouble this time." Gren didn"t like the sound of that.
"Jess, sweetie, it"s not safe to get angry while you"re pregnant. Think of the baby." Gren couldn"t hope to win an argument against her so he hoped to at least limit the damage.
Jessica sighed before shaking her head. "Although I was worried by you disappearing for a night, I"m not really angry at you. Midna told me everything and it sounds like you"ve had it rough. The one that I"m mad at is Jasmine."
That was a new one. Jasmine was usually well-behaved. "What did Jasmine do?"
"She went on a rampage when she found out you were missing and burned part of a building. She came back an hour ago crying about how she couldn"t find you. I"ve forbidden her from leaving the underground for now just in case." Gren didn"t expect that Jasmine did something so crazy.
"Is she uninjured?" Jasmine might be tough but she wasn"t invulnerable and Gren worried about her.
"Physically, yes, but she"s probably still depressed. You should go let her know that you"re fine so she stops worrying about you. Just don"t spoil her or else I"ll be mad at you too." Gren gave Jessica a quick kiss before heading to the staircase.
"Right, I almost forgot." Gren turned around to look at Jessica. "Is it fine if I use the store to sell some things? The shovels were pretty useless and my old armor doesn"t fit me anymore so I wanted to sell them."
"We"ve still got permission to sell things so it should be fine. I"m too busy with the guild to run the shop so you"ll need to find someone to take care of it in my place." Gren would have to ask around to find out if anybody was interested in becoming a shop clerk. If n.o.body was interested then he"d just have to increase the pay until somebody magically became interested.
"Thanks, Jess, you"re the best." Gren gave her a hug, making sure not to hurt her stomach. "You"ve been working hard for all of us. After I return from checking on Jasmine, do you want me to give you a ma.s.sage?"
"That sounds good but stop stalling. If you wait any longer she might go on another rampage." Gren gave Jessica another kiss and ran down the stairs, leaving her and the little red ogre girl that he adopted behind. "Your papa might be a while. Do you want to help me make him something special?"
"Yeah!"
"Pancakes or eggy bread?"
"Eggy!"
"Alright, I"ll go make the bread while you get the egg."
Ruby put on the little boots that Gren gave her and threw on her favorite jacket--a leather jacket with a cat head embroidered on the front pocket and a fur trim--before waddling out the side door. The expression on her face was filled with determination; it was as if she was a soldier marching towards the battlefield.